Spain

The dust has settled on Champions League Group B, where we started the day with Liverpool guaranteed top, Atlético at the bottom, Porto advancing as runner-up, switched to Milan in second after Zlatan's side took an early lead on Liverpool, went back to Porto in second after Mohamed Salah equalized and finally finished with Atlético advancing to the Round of 16 after Diego Simeone's men beat Porto 3-1 in a match that featured three red cards, three yellows and two bench-clearing brawls between minutes 67 and 75.

Nicolò Barella lost the plot in Inter Milan’s 2-0 defeat to Real Madrid. The battle for the top spot in Group D was decided by a smashing Toni Kroos hit in the first half, but it was ended by the Barella red card vs Real Madrid. Los Blancos closed out the win after a lovely late strike from Marco Asensio on Tuesday at the Bernabeu.

BARCELONA — Barcelona were stunned by Juanmi's late goal for Real Betis that secured a 1-0 win in LaLiga on Saturday and ended home coach Xavi Hernandez's honeymoon at the club as he suffered his first defeat since coming back to the Camp Nou three weeks ago.

Juanmi gives Real Betis a 1-0 lead over Barcelona! pic.twitter.com/NeSyDS53ch

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) December 4, 2021

After his legendary career, Brazilian striker Ronaldo wanted to buy a soccer team. The two-time World Cup winner eventually settled on LaLiga, where he spent six total seasons. Turns out, O Fenômeno initially wanted to buy an MLS club but decided it wasn’t worth it.

It wasn’t a convincing win but Real Madrid defeated Athletic Club 1-0 on Wednesday night at the Santiago Bernabéu to open a seven-point lead over Atlético at the top of LaLiga (although los Colchoneros maintain a game in hand).

Athletic doesn’t make it easy for anyone — the Basque side entered this match with the division’s best defensive record after conceding 10 goals through 14 matches — but they came up against two of the planet’s most in-form players in Karim Benzema and Vinícius Júnior, and it was ultimately that duo that made the difference.

HONG KONG - Beijing Guoan posted a farewell message to Cédric Bakambu on their social media account on Tuesday, with the Congolese striker becoming the latest high-profile foreign player to leave the Chinese Super League.

Bakambu, who has been linked with a January move to Barcelona, has been with the club since signing from Villarreal before the start of the 2018 CSL campaign.

The 30-year-old France-born forward's contract is due to expire at the end of the year.

Lionel Messi won his record-extending seventh men’s Ballon d’Or on Monday. Anyone who watched him carry both Argentina and Barcelona over the last year knows he absolutely deserved it. But even Messi admitted on Monday that Robert Lewandowski deserves the 2020 Ballon d’Or.

In the build up to Manchester United’s top-of-the-table Champions League Group F clash with Villarreal at El Madrigal, caretaker manager Michael Carrick revealed that his revolution would be a subtle one; blink and you just might miss it.

“Obviously I’ve worked closely with Ole for a long time now and we do have very similar beliefs,” the defeatist inside Carrick said. “We did as players and we certainly do as coaches and manager so, yes of course, I’ve got my own personality to Ole, but it’s very similar.”

BARCELONA - After a nerve-wracking last World Cup qualifier for Spain as they booked their place at next year's finals by beating Sweden 1-0, LaLiga returns this weekend with all eyes on Barcelona.

New manager Xavi Hernández will take charge of the team in the Catalonia derby against Espanyol on Saturday and three days later Barca host Benfica in a game that could secure their place in the Champions League last 16.